Messner

Record of the first ascent of Everest made without the use of oxygen equipment, made in May 1978 by Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler. Could it be done? Would their blood vessels burst? Would they suffer brain damage leading to madness? Nobody was sure. Messner: 'I would never come here for trying Everest with oxygen. That is not a challenge for me.' A fascinating piece of history, well filmed by Leo Dickinson and Eric Jones (above the South Col Messner used a cine camera to continue the filming), featuring Messner and Habeler's thoughts. The film follows the usual sequence from Namche to Base Camp, through the Icefall, to Camps I, II and III. It also shows historical footage of the pioneering Mallory and Shipton expeditions.

This documentary tells via the testimonies of people who knew him (like Simone Moro, his companion during his last ascent), the life, the mountaineering exploits and the very tolerant character of Anatoli Boukreev. This famous mountaineer has made more than twenty-one ascents on mountains of 8,000 m altitude, without using supplemental oxygen, and has reached the summit of Everest four times. In 1996 he saved the lives of many climbers in a group led by Scott Fischer during their attempt on Everest. The documentary is based on footage shot during his tragic last ascent of Annapurna in Nepal in 1997.

The DLFA was a haphazard assortment of young misfits unified by their unwavering pursuit of climbing, partying, and testing the boundaries of socially acceptable behavior. During the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s they established bold first ascents at Devil's Lake State Park and elsewhere in the Midwest. Their spirit of youthful nonconformity and brash rebellion is enshrined in the group's full name: The Devil's Lake Fukness Association.

How do you brave acute mountain sickness? We talk to researchers, doctors and mountaineers about a syndrome whose mechanisms are still poorly understood.

This year the Mammut Teamtrip proves that you can also go climbing in Kyrgyzstan. Beginning of July Nina Caprez, Stephan Siegrist, David Lama and Giovanni Quirici have packed their backpacks and headed for Tien Shan, a mountain range in south-western Kyrgyzstan. There they are planning the first ascent of a big wall route in Karavshin Valley. Maybe it is the lack of eight-thousanders which refused the small country at the border to China to be ranked amongst big climbing destinations such as Pakistan and Nepal. It is high time to chance this.

Ghang-gheng, the ancient winner-take-all competition in which the deadliest fighters from around the world employ the most spectacular feats of martial arts skills ever displayed in order to win the prized Golden Dragon. But fighting prowess alone will not be enough for Chris to triumph over such daunting foes.

Quique, Clara and little Lucas are vacationing in northern India. One night, sleeping outside during a storm, they are brutally attacked. Hours later, Quique is rescued by a native and taken to a remote isolated village in the mountains.